Recent events have revealed a need for improved technology to quickly respond to an uncontrolled release of well stream products. These events also revealed that under certain conditions, recovery of hydrocarbons from a well blowout at can be hampered by the formation of gas hydrate crystals with the potential to clog collection devices.
In the 2010 Macondo well incident, the recovery system that was eventually deployed was both complex and expensive to operate, requiring numerous surface vessels to collect, process, burn and/or store the recovered hydrocarbon mixture. The complexity of this operation and the number of large vessels required preclude rapid deployment in the event of a similar future mishap. What is needed are more effective hydrocarbon recovery apparatus, systems and processes that are suitable for use in environments where gas hydrate formation can significantly hamper the underwater recovery of released hydrocarbons, at a cost that will allow the system to be pre-staged at a number of key locations for rapid deployment if needed.